The police and Shin Bet last month arrested an Israeli citizen suspected of spying for Iran, including on former prime minister Naftali Bennett during a hospital stay.

In a joint statement Sunday, the Israel Police and Shin Bet said Moshe Attias, an 18-year old resident of the central Israeli city of Yavne, was “in contact with Iranian terror elements and carried out a large number of different missions on their behalf.”

Attias did so “with the understanding that [the missions] could harm the security of the state,” and did so for money, the statement said.

Among other tasks, Attias is suspected of “gathering intelligence in the cardiology department of a hospital in central Israel,” presumably Kfar Saba’s Meir Medical Center, where former prime minister Naftali Bennett was hospitalized last month, undergoing a cardiac catheterization.

“He documented, at the request of an Iranian operative, a floor in the hospital containing a room with guards protecting the former prime minister,” the statement said.

Police said that Attias carried out other missions for his Iranian handlers, but did not elaborate on the additional suspicions.

Bennett’s office said in a statement Sunday that the former premier was “confident in the Shin Bet, in the IDF, and in all the security bodies, and is continuing his tours and meetings with the Israeli public all throughout the country.”

“Iranian attempts to assassinate world leaders have failed and will fail here too, and will certainly not deter Bennett from continuing his activities for the sake of Israel’s security,” the statement continued.

His office also called on Israel to take a more aggressive position towards Iran, insisting that “Tehran, not Tel Aviv, should be on the defensive.”

The former premier is expected to re-enter politics ahead of Israel’s next elections, which must take place next fall at the latest, with polls showing Bennett potentially pulling ahead of Netanyahu. Last month, he announced the formation of a new party, with the temporary name “Bennett 2026.”

Over the past two years, Iranian intelligence operatives have ramped up their efforts to recruit ordinary Israelis as spies in exchange for money.

There have been several recent cases — including one on Friday — in which Iran was revealed to have recruited Israelis to conduct various activities, from spreading propaganda and photographing sensitive sites to arson and even the attempted assassination of senior officials.

In most cases, the suspects began by carrying out small, innocuous tasks that gradually grew into more serious offenses, like intelligence gathering and assassination plots.

Police have cautioned Israeli citizens and residents against “engaging in contact with foreign operatives and carrying out tasks for them,” and have vowed to take harsh legal action against those involved in such activities.